national security agency journal articles world war ii german ...

"'TOP 5EERH-
Cryptanalysis in the German Air Force
BY OBERLEUTNANT WALDEMAR WERTHER
?_bjJ aUlet
The r~port from which this article is taken was prepared after World
War II at the request of an Army Air Corps team interrogating former
Axis COMINT personnel. The extract is published here for its general
interest to readers of the Journa\.
I. A SHORT HISTORICAl. SURVEY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TilE F.ASTERN CRYPT­
ANALYSIS GROUP OF TilE GERMAN AIR FORCE
During the period of preparation for the establishment of the intercept
equipment of the Air Force in 1936, the first State employees intended
for cryptanalysis (who were all of them civilians up to the outbreak
of the war) were sent to the permanent intercept posts of the
Army in the East for the purpose of basic training. The results of
this training were unsatisfactory because the Army was reticent in releasing
even the most elementary information, and furthermore, because
the individuals sent lacked in most cases the necessary qualifications
for their work; the personnel officials made their selections on
anything but a proper basis, and appointed many persons who turned
out to be completely unsuitable for the work of a cryptanalyst. The
creation of a capable and successful cryptanalytic group was accomplished
only in the course of the following years of tiresome work,
without outside assistance, and through an internal development
achieved by dropping numerous unsatisfactory elements.
In the summer of 1937, four cryptanalysts were working on Soviet·
traffic at the Cryptanalytic Bureau of the Air Force (Chi-Stelle).
The other Eastern powers were either treated very superficially, largely
as a side issue by our Soviet section, or not processed at all. The
cryptanalytic groups of the outstations of the Air Force Intercept
Service (cover name: "Radio Weather Receiving Stations") also consisted
of a few poorly trained and often incompetent workers. A
worth-while organization for breaking new systems was developed only
at the cryptographic bureau. The outstations were barely able to
decode the encoded messages with the code in front of them.
At the outbreak of the war in 1939, the cryptanalytic groups both
in the central office and in the outstations had grown to about 10 men
each, and they were included in the newly established intercept companies.
.The training of the individual analyst was continuously improved
through conferences, short training courges, and exchange
groups. of key men for instruction purposes.
73 JOP SEER!'!"
~)eclassifi ed by hJS,A. 09-29-2002
pursuantto E.O. '12958, as
ElrTIended FC)IA, Case# 52224